I usually go to the house of some friends for dinner and bubbly then take a cab home. This year, unfortunately, they are going to be away because the wife's father had a heart attack last Friday so they are flying to North Carolina for Christmas and not coming back until New Year's Day. I'll probably go back to an earlier tradition of taking a candlelit bubble bath while sipping some champagne. Earlier in the day, I'm going to a UW basketball game and then to an afternoon champagne toast celebration. I should be home by 6 though.

Working New Years Eve 4-midnight with a mentally challenged client, so the company will probably pay for us to go out and I'll have far more fun than if I was home with hubby and two sleeping kids (you all mention sitters... do you lock them up all year so you have them for New Years Eve? I can never find one.)

Eva - go to the nearest high school and ask them to recommend a student. Someone in a parenting/home ec class should be eager to babysit. You might even try the elementry school that goes up to grade 8 - those girls are 14 and likely don't have a happening dating life yet That's my plan for the new year. I'm tired of not being able to go out because of a sitter problem.. and you know those childless friends always make plans last minute :rolleyes

We have a street party. As we live in a court we can block off the road, bring the sterio out and chairs and fire up the barbie. We all have kids, and get on well (there are only 8 houses in our street) so its the easiest way to do it and we dont have to bother with sitters. We all have a few drinks and dance and the kids enjoy just laughing at us, but there is a park on one side of the road where they go play hide and seek or kick a footy around, sometimes we set up a volleyball net but no matter where they go we can see them. When they were babies we would either bring out the porta cot or put them to bed and bring out the baby monitor, when the party is in your drive way or on the road outside your house it is just brillant Its day light savings so it doesnt get dark until about 9pm then we usually give the kids some sparklers and torches and at midnight we have party poppers. We have been known to actually be having so much fun we forget midnight. I think we are so lucky here with it being Summer and not Winter, I doubt we could do it in Winter, no one would want to sit outside.

I thought I would resurrect this thread and see what plans everyone has for New Years....

Seeing how I've been stuck at home for the past week with the flu, I don't know that I'm going to go out. Normally my fella and I go to Shogun (a Japanese restaurant) and eat lots of good food and then complain about how miserable we are and then come back and watch Dick Clark...or rather I watch Dick Clark because he's usually already asleep....Yeah I know..we are 2 party animals, right???

I can remember the good ole days when I couldn't remember New Years Eve....

We're having a bonfire with some food, karoke, and alcohol - a great combination!

My son is 20 so I haven't had a sitter problem in years. And our bonfire is at my house so I don't have to drive. The trick will be being able to stay up till midnight. Once you reach the age where you don't need a sitter, you also reach the age where you are usually in bed by 9 or 10